B.S., Biology/Psychology, College of William and Mary, 1980
M.S., Psychology, North Dakota State University, 1982
Pre-Doc., Primate Foundation of Arizona, 1982-1983
Ph.D., Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, 2003
After completing her Master’s degree and pre-doctoral fellowship in animal behavior research, Kathy spent 18 years working at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley in various conservation and research capacities. As the zoo’s Conservation Biologist, she became involved with CBSG in 1991 and contributed to facilitation, modeling or training at over 20 CBSG workshops, primarily PHVAs, biomedical surveys and zoo masterplans in North America and Asia. She also served as Editor of the CBSG Newsletter from 1997 to 2001. In 2002 Kathy joined the CBSG staff as Program Officer and serves as facilitator and population modeler for CBSG workshops, especially those focused on integrating species conservation planning and risk assessment for wild and captive populations. Her interest in the genetic management of captive
populations complements her role as regional studbook keeper and population
management advisor for tigers in North America and for the
global captive Sumatran tiger population, and as advisor to the cooperative breeding programs for South China tigers and giant pandas in Chinese zoos. Kathy is also committed to expanding population modeling, population management, and facilitation expertise among conservation biologists in all regions through CBSG’s regional networks worldwide and coordinates CBSG's training activities. She lives in Northfield, Minnesota with her husband Jerry, a zookeeper at the Minnesota Zoo. Her daughter Lara is a fashion designer in Los Angeles, while her other daughter Katie is completing her Ph.D. research on amphibian metapopulations in urban environments in the US and Vietnam.
